Malroth: Difference between revisions

'''Malroth''', also known as the '''Master of Destruction''', is the final boss of the video game ''[[Dragon Quest II]]''. Malroth is not mentioned in his debut game until the finale, except for a false idol bearing his likeness which is found in a cave and is needed to uncover the [[Cave to Rendarak]]. Malroth can use the spell of [[Fullheal]] in his original appearance, leading to infamy amongst fans and adding to the already considerable challenge of ''DQII''.

==Appearance and personality==

Malroth is a large, chimeric abomination covered mostly in blue scales (green in the original NES sprite) and wearing only a necklace with a skull on it. He has six limbs, four of which appear to be arms, a massive pair of demonic wings and a serpent for a tail. His mouth is always shown as being a wide-opened grin, fangs clearly visible.

Being a god of destruction, Malroth is immensely powerful and more than capable of living up to his title. In all of his appearances Malroth has almost never spoken beyond primitive roars, preferring annihilation over conversation. At the start of ''Dragon Quest II'', Malroth is only alluded to and rarely by his name. All that is first hinted to is his penchant for destruction and the fact that the [[Children of Hargon]] threatens all of [[Alefgard]] by trying to summon him. In the original NES version the [[False Idol]] is known as the Eye of Malroth; this marks the only time he is slightly referenced but there still exist statues in several dungeons that depict his likeness. In contemporary remakes such as the Android/iOS versions, summoning a deity of destruction is mentioned to be Hargon's ultimate goal but never referred to with its name until the end.  

Being the cult's object of worship, Malroth is highly esteemed by his devotees--not that this matters to him, as his description in ''IX'' states that he doesn't mind where his sacrifices come from. It is revealed in ''Dragon Quest Builders 2'' that his name is known only in the highest ranks among the Children of Hargon, this was presumably thought up by Hargon himself so that only he could address the deity and, by this tactic, it could only be directed personally by his nihilist pleas.  

===Human Malroth===

As aforementioned, the vast majority of his appearances Malroth has little discernible personality outside of being a god of destruction who demands sacrifices. The major exception to this is his appearance in ''Builders 2'', where he is one of the game's main characters.

Malroth appears as a mostly human young lad who wears an open purple shirt, saffron pants that tuck into his red and black boots, matching red gloves, and a fang necklace. Hints to his demonic nature include wild hair that parts along his temples into horn-esque spikes, pointed ears, and bright red eyes. Illustrations alternate between depicting him with a spiked club or a large hammer.

In his humanoid form he initially has no inkling of his true nature as the Master of Destruction. His amnesia and severely weakened state appear to be what allow him to begin to form attachments to others. Regardless, Malroth retains a violent disposition and defaults to casually threatening those that annoy him; though he refrains from actually harming helpless nuisances. He has a particular habit of threatening to kill [[Lulu]] as a sacrifice to himself, though he does so jokingly (probably). His tastes stray from what could be considered normal: he expresses his approval of the architecture used by the [[Children of Hargon]], enjoys dark and subterranean areas, thinks that False Idols are "cool", and likes Lulu's cooking.

Malroth does not understand typical social graces and is often prone to outbursts and bluntness, leading to some humorous exchanges early on and frightening conflicts later. He quickly develops a habit of using a high-five with the Builder as a celebratory gesture, but he is unsure of what inspired him to start doing so. Over the course of their adventure, he becomes close friends with the [[Builder (Dragon Quest Builders 2)|Builder]]. {{spoiler|start}}His attachment to the Builder lasts even after Hargon forces him to attain his true form. When he and the Builder clash, he very physically holds himself back despite expressing his desire to consume the Builder moments beforehand. The great dissonance between his newly developed sentimentality and desire for destruction causes him to split into two entities, his human avatar which retains said sentimentality and memories, and his unrestrained true form which retains its single-minded directive for destruction. Malroth is later able to recombine and the personality developed during his time with the Builder has attained dominance.{{spoiler|end}}

==Appearances==

Troubled by being unable to create, he begins valuing himself purely on his ability to destroy objects and defeat monsters to help the Builder. This attitude on his self-worth eventually festers and twists into resentment when the Builder starts constructing traps and other devices that he thinks he is being replaced with. This festering, and the fact that his desire for destruction grows as the Builder builds, is what allows Hargo, the owner of the voice Malroth had been hearing in his thoughts, to override the personality his human form has developed and begin his transformation into his true form as the Lord and Master of Destruction.

* Malroth appears to be inspired by Shiva, the Hindu god of destruction and one of the three principle deities of Hinduism. Shiva is commonly depicted as having blue skin and multiple arms and is known as the Destroyer. However, Shiva is also known as the Creator as well, as new creation couldn't take place without first having destruction, and Shiva does not take part in blind, needless destruction.